Woman saved by vicar's CPR calls for more training

A woman who survived a cardiac arrest in Alderney is encouraging islanders to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Restart a Heart week runs until Friday 16 October, with free events to give people the skills to help save a life.

Fran Trathen collapsed with a cardiac arrest in 2025, but local vicar Samantha Martell fortunately knew what she had to do to help. She was able to provide lifesaving CPR and, once first responders and ambulance crew arrived, they were able to get Fran's heart beating again.

Trathen said she felt strongly everyone should learn it as it could be anyone "who collapses next to you", adding: "I don't think anyone should be without those skills, even children."

Trathen, who works part-time at an estate agent, was showing a property when the incident happened.

She said: "I had gone to do a viewing on a property to show Sam around.

"I walked in, and that's about it. The first thing I remember was waking up in hospital in Alderney and then again in Southampton [after being airlifted to England for treatment]."

Martell had learned CPR in the past but had just completed a Restart a Heart refresher course the week before.

After calling 999, she was told to start chest compressions.

She said: "I just went into autopilot and kept going, telling Fran: 'Don't die on me.'

"It felt like forever, but then I heard the sirens, and suddenly there were people all around us.

"The training was absolutely paramount. As a priest, I believe God was in all of this. It was the right place and the right time for me to be there for Fran."

Trathen added: "It could be your son or daughter or your mum or dad or brother who collapses next to you. I don't think anyone should be without those skills, even children."

Restart a Heart is a national event led by the Resuscitation Council, aiming to increase the number of people who survive cardiac arrests outside a hospital setting.

Jim Cathcart, Ambulance and Rescue team leader for Alderney, said: "Fran's story is one of several cases from Guernsey and Alderney in recent years where people are alive today thanks to a member of the public doing CPR and use of an AED [automated external defibrillator]."

Free sessions to learn how to restart a heart are being offered in both Guernsey and Alderney.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.